Infected
by YouStarteldTheSister
Summary: witch!Nick and hunter!Ellis, wandering New Orleans after being turned.    FINISED/DONE/ENDED/COMPLETE-O
1. Lost

Night had fallen fast, and Ellis was panicking, he'd wandered too far away and now he couldn't find Nick. A low growl of impatience and annoyance at himself emitted from his throat as Ellis tore down the empty streets, limbs stretching to almost impossible lengths to gain more distance and only stopping long enough to skid around a corner. Stopping a huge pile of rubble he could hear Nick on the other side it of it.. close enough to catch on to the other man's wails but still pretty far away. So with a quick tense of the muscles in his legs Ellis lunged forward, letting out a warning screech as he latched on to a piece of concrete near the top and lunged again clearing the distance and landing with a quiet thud. Perking his head up, the glowing yellow eyes were unblinking as he listened, training his ears on his lover and taking off again at a breakneck speed in that direction. Getting across the destroyed bridge in a matter of seconds and sliding down the river bank to get to the area below it.

That was where he found Nick, legs covered with the once white pants were crossed and elbows resting on his knees, his hunched back covered by the remains of his blue dress shirt. His face was hidden behind hands that sported the long claws of his kind.. but didn't muffle the sounds of the wails tearing from his throat at all. It wasn't just a normal wail, Ellis had learned to tell the difference, this was more high pitched and the kind of sound he only heard when they were separated. It told him that Nick was alone and upset and missed him.. and now that he was here Ellis was going to make the heartbreakingly sad noise stop.

Crawling across the ground the former mechanic let out a low rumble to let his love know he was there, and that was when the head lifted up, and the glow of Nick's red eyes met his yellow ones.. and Ellis sprang forward, tackling his sweetheart successfully knocking him over and giving his cheek an apologetic lick. Which earned an angry cry from Nick and the feeling of those strong muscles use every bit of it's force to push Ellis off the older man and send him flying back, hanging in the air for just a second before rolling across the ground and landing in the water. Which was perfectly fine since the hick surfaced a second later with his hat in his mouth.

Spitting the hat out he plopped it back on his head and crawled back onto shore, laying down beside Nick and curling up with a little whine to tell Nick he really was sorry and his little trip hadn't hurt him. But Nick had already straightened up and went back to his previous position so he could resume to 'crying' this time the tone being that of a normal witch cry, and to Ellis was just telling survivors to stay the fuck away from them. Not that they were ever bothered by survivors anyway, very few made it this far into New Orleans.. and even fewer dared to tangle with a witch.. or the hunter they could hear growling out it's warning close by.

Closing his eyes, Ellis tried to get the closest thing he got to sleep he'd ever gotten since turning. It wasn't even sleep.. it was more like shutting his eyes, and letting bits of his human life come back to him from somewhere deep down in his subconscious. Hunter Ellis didn't know what to call this, but if he had still been a human, it probably would be classified dreaming.. or just remembering.. he wasn't sure and his rotting brain wouldn't put that much effort into it. Whatever it was, he almost looked forward to it every night. It let him feel things he never felt when alert, the zombie in him locking away a lot of his human emotions along with everything else.

Tonight it seemed he was remembering how they had turned in the first place. It had been an accident really, Nick had pushed Ellis out of the way to avoid an attack and had gotten bitten somehow. At first Nick just wanted them to shoot him right then and there, but when they refused to he just got mad and ran off, Ellis had chased after him.. and they suffered through his turning together while Coach and Ro moved on. It was when Nick was almost done changing that Ellis came to him in the corner, holding one of the hands that was still painfully growing those long claws, and looking into the reddening eyes and told Nick that he wanted him to bite him so he could change too and stay with him. Even cracked a joke by saying Nick would never make as a zombie without him.

Nick had refused of course, but he didn't have a whole lot of will power left so with enough begging Ellis had gotten him to agree to it. The bite had burned and the transformation was too painful for words, but when he had become a zombie, his sense of loyalty and undying love to Nick had stayed with him.. and Nick's love for Ellis had remained as well. So it was that they left their little convenience store hide out and started to stumble through New Orleans.. not sure where they were going but feeling like they needed to keep moving. Which was probably another part of their human selves that transferred over, seeing as when they were living it was practically encoded in their DNA to keep moving so they wouldn't get stuck somewhere and live to fight another day.

He had just gotten to the part where they first tried to kiss each other as infected when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and 'woke up' to the dull glow of morning light and the sound of Nick's clothes rustling as he got up. Lifting himself up onto all fours Ellis gave his equivalent of a yawn and stretched his long arms out in front of him. Time to get moving before something found them.


	2. Wander

Ellis really was like a dog, with the way he crawled around on all fours and remained by Nick's side no matter what. The former con man really did love him. Even if he had refused to admit it when they first met, and one of the few regrets he'd had as a human was that he hadn't said something sooner so that he could spend more time loving the boy the way he should have been loved. But it was too late for that now, they had been turned and it was unlikely that there would ever be a cure and even if someone did manage to come up with one they'd probably never be found or killed by a survivor or a trigger happy solider before injected with it. But somehow, Nick was ok with that, they had never been closer then during that time of changing and now he didn't know what he would do without the boy there by his side.

The daylight burned him something awful, and no matter how much he wanted to sit down he always felt the need to push forward, stumbling his way blindly through the ruined city to try and escape the harmful rays of the sun. Ellis would've been right about Nick not making it as a zombie, because on that first day he almost walked into something several times before being directed back onto the road by his lover. Who would give him a gentle nudge against his leg and lead him back to where he needed to be. He didn't even seem to think about it, just did it automatically and gave a little growl to tell Nick he was ok now. It was a lot like what he would do back in the day, when Nick would stray too far from the group and Ellis would laugh and call out to him "come on Nick! get back over here before something jumps you!."

Ellis slowed down, and eventually reached out and hooked a clawed and around his pants leg to try and get them to stop. But Nick just couldn't do it, they were too out in the open and his skin burned so badly. He wanted nothing more then the be in the shade of some trees or a building, maybe then he would think about stopping. But Ellis would have none of this, he just kept hopping along on three legs beside him while his other hand tried to get him to stop, a low rumble emitted from the back of his throat and under all that muscle pulling on the cloth you could feel his body tense. Ellis' hearing was better then his, and he could hear something that made him feel threatened. But he just couldn't stop, couldn't stop because it just burned him so badly. Wailing loudly in a way that tried to tell his love to go a little further Nick tried to jerk his leg from him with the next step he took, ready to keep going when he felt the boy let go of his leg.

But something was wrong, because when Nick refused to stop Ellis left his side, bouncing away to hide somewhere to his right, his claws making little clicks against the unseen rock surface he was traveling on. Still keeping an eye on Nick while keeping out of the way, and whining low enough to only be heard by him. An urging to hurry up so they could stop somewhere before they were seen, but seen by what?, besides some rather stupid commons they were the only ones out here today. So it wasn't like they were going to be confronted by anything more dangerous then unexploded bombs. But Ellis' fear was unsettling, and with a couple more steps Nick was starting to feel a little uneasy too.

They continued on like this for a few more minutes, and then Nick caught on to what was worrying Ellis, being just close enough to be heard over the sound of his own wailing.. humans.. survivors that were coming to New Orleans in the hopes of finding either safety or some kind of rescue or maybe even both in the famous city. Boy... were they going to be surprised when they got there. Nick tried to veer off to the side, closer to Ellis and be out of the way so the idiots didn't bother two infected. But they were too close, and Nick's cries were too loud. It wasn't until after that first bullet whizzed by him that the infected knew he was in trouble.


	3. Death

The infected may be in trouble, but the survivors were in even worse trouble. Nick did not like being shot at, especially when him and Ellis had been doing nothing wrong. He stopped moving and let out a low growl of his own, peeking out from being one of his claws to see what the humans were going to do. But the three men seemed stupid, they weren't afraid him, and Nick's growl only seemed to make them raise their guns higher. Another one dared to shoot at him and Nail let out a high pitched screech that should've never been able to come from any man's throat. His hands lowered themselves and his redden eyes glared daggers at the men. The one that had shot him a second time on their third companion started to back away, but the one who shot the first bullet refused to back down.

Shaking with nerves, but with a brave face put on for the sake of his friends, he shot at Nick again and sent the infected male into a rage, flinging his arms out to his sides and spreading his long claw like fingers so that every inch of them was stretch out to full length and displayed like some kind of shiny new weapon for victim. The glow of his eyes seem to flare up into an unusual brightness, and Nick took off towards his attacker with the speed graced to him by his infected nature. The poor man didn't even have time to move more then a couple of steps before Nick was on him, shoving the guy to the ground and digging every one of his deep into his body, staining the skin red with blood as he jerked his claws out, ripping open the chest and breaking organs and bones and everything else while his victim screamed. Squirming under him and trying to get free as he quickly dug the claws back in to contnue his assualt on the stupid human's body.

Nick had killed the poor thing and left the remains of the body in a mangled, shredded, bloody mess. Getting up from his spot on the ground and about to turn and run back to Ellis so they could continue their journey, he didn't expect to be met with one of the other survivors, who delivered a quick hit with the butt of his gun and then pointed it at Nick. Obviously they weren't too happy with the man's death, and Nick was stunned from the blow and couldn't do anything but shreik and stumble back. The lucky bastard was only lucky in the fact that he pulled the trigger quickly and got a couple of good shots in. Because as soon as Nick shrieked like that and a couple of drops of thick infected blood hit the ground, so did that guy. Brought down by a blue streak that had come flying out of nowhere.

Letting out the most threatening horrifying screech a hunter could let out, Ellis tore into the man faster then Nick had ever thought about trying. NO ONE hurt his Nick, and in Ellis' own moment of zombie rage torn the man a nice sized hole into his own vicitim. His assualt only stopped when he took was knocked back by a blow to the head with the butt of a gun. This knocked Ellis totally off of his victim and left him dizzy enough for a moment that he couldn't tell where to leap, giving the remaining healthy survivor plenty of time to pick the bleeding one up and the two of them take off in a direction that was far away from the specials that had pretty much fucked their group in a single gruesome moment.

After Ellis had managed to regain his senses, he sniffed around and tried to find Nick, alarmed by the sudden rush of not only Nick's sent but heavy sent of Nick's blood that suddenly invaded his senses. Whining worriedly, Ellis crawled over to his lover, who was layed out on the ground in a manner that was unlike Nick. Even as a Witch Ellis had never seen him like this, with his legs curled up under him like they had just given out on him. His arms stretched out like he was going to attack something out, but his hands closed up in attempted fists like he had been trying to grab on to something. His head was layed out real funny like with his eyes shut like he was sleeping. The three bullet holes in the older man's body were the only things that told Ellis he wasn't sleeping, and when he put a clawed hand on his chest and started to shake him only to get no response Ellis knew something was bad wrong.

Whining again, Ellis laid himself down on the ground by Nick's body and curled up into the little ball he was always so comfortable in since turning. There was nothing Ellis could do now, he didn't have the brain power anymore to be able to dug the pieces of lead out without tearing him apart in the process, and he didn't have a health pack with him to patch him up with. So the only thing he really could do was sit, and wati, and to him the best way to do that was just to go to sleep and hope for the best when he woke up later on.


	4. Memory

HEY! GUESS WHAT! I didn't write this chapter. A friend of mine did after seeing some screenshots from my first attempt at doing some GMod stuff. So after writing it and giving it to me as a present she gave me permission to use it as a chapter and publish all around the internet.

_

* * *

__It was far too quiet for Ellis' liking. At night, when he was on watch, he was used to Coach and Rochelle's sleep noises filling up the quiet of night. Coach snored like no one's business and Rochelle often made those little muffled sounds against her pillow, curled up against her pillow. Because of those two, he had never noticed how quiet Nick was while asleep._

_Now that it was only Nick occupying the room with him, it became blatantly obvious. _

_The concrete room was set up so the two run down couches were facing the steel, sloppily red painted door, meeting each other at an angle. Nick was laid out on the reddish, softer couch with one hand hung off the side, knuckles pressed against the hard floor and mouth open just slightly. And so eerily quiet. How was he even supposed to know the conman was alive?_

_The southerner turned a bit in his seat on hard, green stripped fabric, shotgun carefully cradled in his lap and his fingers gripping his knees. Damn, he wished Ro and Coach were here. But at least they were safe. Nick and him had missed that helicopter flight playing bait for a tank, and were now just trying to survive. Ellis hoped that they would find another rescue helicopter, but his company was rather pessimistic._

_It was as his thoughts turned to Nick that the con artist made the first sleep-sound of the night, a just barely audible sigh, little more than an exhale. The first sign of his being alive of the night. Ellis felt the need to celebrate._

_Rising from his spot on the old couch, the younger man approached the sleeping conman, shotgun left resting on the green cushions. Nick had turned his head away from the back of the sofa, arm now placed on his rising and falling chest, one of the mutliple ring reflecting some of the dim light. Ellis sat on the arm rest next to Nick's head, staring down at him thoughtfully. The boy wondered if the gambler would shout at him for waking him. Or maybe he'd just glare sullenly, or maybe speak to him in that hushed, angry voice. Or, just maybe, he'd simply open his eyes and smile at Ellis, laugh at his antics and shake his head. _

_Ellis kind of hoped for something resembling that last option, but it seemed a little far fetched. But it was a nice thought. He liked it when Nick smiled. In the end, he didn't even need to touch Nick to wake him up. The man seemed to sense the other's gaze and groaned, the hand laying flat on his chest moving up to rub his eye. Ellis gazed down at him in surprise, feeling like a kid with his hand caught down the cookie jar. When the hand retracted and pale green eyes opened to return the surprised stare, the conman's eyebrows furrowed, lips pursing._

_"Ellis?" The boy blinked and his heart skipped a beat. "Yeah Nick?" "What the hell are you doing?" Ellis smiled crookedly, shrugging, his cheeks and the top of his ears turning a bright shade of red. _

_"Uh, I was gonna wake you up. Your turn for watch." It was Nick's turn to blink, nodding and sitting up with a yawn, his back popping when he stretched. Then his attention returned to the boy and he pulled his hand back, smacking Ellis upside the head._

_"Ouch! What was that for?" The hick exclaimed, rubbing the back of his head, fingers tangling in curly hair. Nick smirked, laughing sleepily. "For being a fucking creep, that's what. Watching me while I sleep." Ellis pouted, though he wouldn't label the expression as such, and shook his head. He kind of had been, but the gambler didn't have to be a jerk about it. _

_"I wasn't watchin' ya sleep. I said I was gonna wake you up, but you woke up before I could." There was that smile he had been anticipating, a bright flash of white teeth, the green of Nick's eyes catching the light as his ring had. Ellis felt a little breathless. "Whatever you say, El." He muttered, checking the muddy watch they had picked up from one of the infected after Nick's own watch got smashed. The conman glanced back up at Ellis, one eyebrow raised. _

_"Your shift isn't over yet. You still have thirty minutes." Huh. He had been closer than he thought. The hick had estimated that there had been an hour left. But Nick might get pissed at him for that, so he pretended he had no idea. "Oh, shit man! Sorry 'bout that. Guess I have to get better at reading this thing." The older man sighed, running his fingers through dark hair. Ellis wonder if it was soft. It would explain why Nick was messing with his hair all the time. _

_"It's fine. I'll just stay up with you until your shift's over." The boy smiled, and Nick returned the expression half-heartedly, scooting over so Ellis could plop down beside him. His heart skipped a beat again and his fingers itched to touch, but the mechanic just folded gripped his knees again. _

_"What were you dreamin' of? You were awfully quiet." Nick rest his head against the back of the couch, one eye nearly hidden by shadow. The other eye's lashes cast a strange shadow across his nose. _

_"I don't remember." The simple answer disappointed Ellis, having hoped for maybe a mention of himself. No, not himself. He had just hoped for a story. Instead, he spent the pause in the conversation taking in Nick's sleep reddened cheeks and muse hair, gaze lingering on slightly parted lips. He bit his own, wondering._

_They spent most of the thirty minutes in a companionable silence, Ellis speaking every once in a while and Nick responding with short sentences and yawns. Eventually, the boy checked the watch and found that he had lost ten minutes of precious sleep. Not that he really minded, but he probably would a little in the morning. No matter what, though, he would be happy to have had this easy conversation with Nick. _

_"Nick, it's your shift." He said softly, holding out the watch for the other man to take. The gambler sighed and nodded, moving to his feet with a grunt. Ellis watched the man take the few steps needed to reach the sofa he had been occupying earlier and pick up the shotgun, smiling tiredly at the hick. _

_"Night, Ellis." This time his heart felt like it had stopped. Ellis licked dry lips. He suddenly didn't feel the least bit sleepy. He wanted to stay as they had been, Nick sitting besides him and the infection forgotten for the night. The mechanic wanted to stretch that moment out as long as he could, so he blurted out the first thing that came to mind._

_"Aren't you gonna give me a good night kiss?" The southerner asked, trying for a teasing tone but failing miserably. He flushed and managed a strained smile, desperately wishing Nick would see the whole thing as just him messing around. The conman had seemed to freeze at the question, face blank and gun pointed toward the ground, making Ellis even more nervous. Nick's silence stretched forever, but eventually he spoke, taking a step forward._

_"Sure." Crossing the distance again, the gambler leaned down, cupped Ellis' cheek, and pressed his lips to the younger man's. It wasn't much, really, just the touching of lips, a kiss much more chaste than the ones Ellis had thought about. But the touch felt as if someone had set him on fire. _

_And all too soon it was over, Nick stepping back and walking back to the couch one more time, not looking back. The boy couldn't do much more than stare after him. "Get some sleep, kid." _

_Ellis didn't know how he was going to sleep after that._


	5. Hope

Ellis waited for days but Nick never woke up, never moved, never breatheed. No matter how much the ex mechanic whined and growled, begged and pleaded, screeched and scream, Nick lay still. But Ellis refused to give up, he sat by Nick's side day and night, sometimes watching the area around him and sometimes watching Nick's cold face, waiting for those beaitful eyes to open so he could see that hint of green still left in them before the red glow of his kind took over and made it harder to see. That was all Ellis really wanted, was for Nick's eyes to open, his hands raise up to hide his face as he sat up with a loud wail, making sure Ellis was still with him before standing up and telling him to come on so they could keep moving like they had before, with Ellis on the ground crawling around by Nick's feet as the ex conman stubbled along.

But that never happened, and when the time of Nick's death hit the one week mark, Ellis' nose started to pick up on something.. a scent.. humans. Humans had did this to Nick, humans had cracked his head open and made it hard to think, humans took the only thing he had away from him. As the sent got stronger anger welled up in Ellis, but he wouldn't move from Nick's side. Instead his toes and fingers curled, digging the sharp pointed claws into the dirt as he growled and glowered. Waiting for the right time to reek his revenge, wanting them to suffer for they had done to him.. and to Nick.

What Ellis sharp nose was unable to tell though, was that these humans were different from the ones before. The were covered in thick cameo colored clothing mostly hidden by the ebony black armor that covered their chest, making it hard for Ellis to rip into them like he wanted. He couldn't hurt their heads either, for they were covered by large helmets, their faces covered by odd goggles and strange masks. They were larger too, and Ellis' sensative ears were starting to pick up on the sound for their movements, loud stomping of many pairs of feet, each step in time with the other like they all belong to one person. The sound followed not too far behind by a low rumble and a slight shaking of the earth as something larger then all of them moved forward, more then likely trying to keep from squishing the evil humans infront of it.

Then all it once it all stopped, the cluster of strangely clad humans and the big metal monster that was traveling with it came to a halt not too far infront of him. Making Ellis' narrowed eyes widen for a moment, then a threatening growl espace from him, getting ready to leap at them, when a muffled shout came from the human closest to him.

"It's another one commander!.."

Every human turned their attention on Ellis and raised their guns, fingers on the trigger and ready to squeeze it if Ellis made even the smallest of movements. Which he did, lifting on arm up and stretching out his clawed fingers.

"SHOOT I-"

"WAIT!"

A female voice that sounded.. famaliar... cut through the command and made the soliders stop just before the triggers were pulled. A female figure dressed in a slimer cameo uniform with no armor or helmt stepped through the crowd, face uncovered and dark eyes studied him for a moment before turning her head towards the crowd, a couple strands of her black hair coming loose of it's knot and brushing against brown skin.

"It's him.. oh god it's really him, we found him!."

There was some shuffling noises as a larger black man, also in black but more exposed like his female counterpart, stepped through the crowd and stood by her side looking down at an Ellis that was too stunned by familiarity of their scents.. and oddly enough their appearance, to act on his anger at the moment and just stare up at them with his yellow eyes.

They didn't seem to be afraid of him, and despite shouts and warning from the other humans, both the woman and the man knelt down and let go of their guns long enough to hold out one hand Ellis. The light of the day almost seeming to shine off the bald man's head, and the bright smile on the woman's face. And for some reason, Ellis couldn't hurt them, even though all of his zombie instincts told him too something much deeper then that told him not too.

"Come on now boy, you gotta remember us.."

"He has to, just look at him, he hasn't done nothing but stare at us. He's even stopped growling."

Ellis started to set his hand back down on the ground, feeling like he was in some sort of trance that made him move against his killer instinct and wanting to just be close to them instead.

"That's it El, come on sweetie don't be afraid, you know we're not going to hurt you."

He wanted to go to them, but they were just wanting him and not them, he just couldn't leave Nick!. Backing up those couple of steps he'd started to take, Ellis planted himself firmly on the ground by his lover. Giving another one of his low growls then a loud screech like his kind were prone to giving. Not because he was attacking, but because he was confused and frustrated with himself. He wanted to hurt these people but he couldn't, he wanted to go with them but had to stay here with Nick, he wanted to tell them what was wrong.. see if they could wake Nick up, but they didn't seem to understand.. even acted a little jumpy after that.

"Maybe this is a bad idea."


	6. Love

_"Nick"_

_The conman twisted his head around to look at the mechanic from over his shoulder, a hint of pain behind those angry green eyes that Elli had learned not to be afraid of anymore. Nick always looked angry, it was just a part of who he was. But the way he said his love's name wasn't a part of who he was, his usual loud and cheerful voice becoming quiet and sad, as though his hurts ran a lot deeper then that of the swollen ankle, torn chest, and busted lip he sported._

_"What is it Overalls?."_

_"I'm sorry"_

_Nick turned around to fully face him and stopped right there in the middle of the road, his own limping gait slowling down until they were both standing there looking at each other like they weren't surrounded by millions of zombies ready to close in on their position at any given moment. More then likely drawn by Ellis, the biggest infected magnet on the planet, and the reason they'd almost been killed three times in the last fifteen minutes. Nick didn't deserve this, not with everything he'd been through already, and the bite that was paining him even though he was trying very hard not to show it._

_"What're you sorry for?"_

_"This is all my fault.. ya know them infected jus' love me, and now we aint got the numbers we use to have it's too easy for them to get ahold of us. I know your in a lot of pain already, I don't need to be making this worse."_

_The look on Nick's face when he said that, the way he tried to rub at the bite wound without Ellis seeing, then twirled his rings around on his fingers. It made Ellis nervous, Nick didn't usually act like this unless he was about to say something that was hard for him or he was deep in thought. Was Nick about to tell him that it was true? that he didn't want Ellis following him around no more?. Ellis didn't know if he could take that, he couldn't be away from the older man.. not only because he had saved his life but because he had very deep feelings for the grumpy conman. He'd even had a couple of wet dreams about them, which was something very rare for the boy growing up religious and thinking sex was something better left for after they were married._

_"It's not your fault El, I've got the shittest luck in the world. It's true that these zombies seem to love you but I'm the one with the bite.. I'm.. you know.. contaminated.. it's probably my smell or somet shit like that that's drawing these bastards to us. So don't worry about it ok? you haven't done anything wrong."_

_"Oh Nick..."_

_Ellis couldn't stand it anymore, he couldn't let Nick blame himself, he couldn't let him feel this guilt that clouded his already pain clouded eyes. He couldn't take that pain either, it killed parts of his big heart and just made him want to take a rag and wipe all that fear and exhausttion, pain and worry, guilt and suffering right off his face and take it all for himself leaving Nick a new man that would be happy with his life and happy with what he had. He didn't care if it weighed him down to the point he couldn't even crawl anymore. He'd do it just to help Nick out in anyway way he could. Because more then anything he just wanted to see a smile on the older man's face, one that wasn't total fake or just part of the latest ruse he was trying to pull around Ellis to avoid something he didn't want to do or talk about._

_Reaching a hand out, Ellis took one of Nick's hands in his own happy they had decided to carry their weapons at their hips for now just to give their tired arms a rest. It made it easy for Ellis to pull Nick close, wrapping the coman in a tight embrace and a strong spirit lifting hug before he even had a chance to protest. But he didn't, just let out a surprised gasp then put his own arms around the kid, and when he felt the hug returned Ellis looked up at Nick then stretched his neck up so that their lips could meet in a sweet and gentle kiss that wouldn't injure Nick's bruised ones or his busted one._

_"I love you..."_

_Nick smiled, and Ellis' heart skipped a beat, because he knew.. this one was real.. and the last one he'd probably ever see on his lover's face before he turned into one of the monsters he'd spent the last month or so of his life without any remorse._

_"I love you too Overalls."_


	7. CEDA

**Rochelle's Log:**

Day One:

_It had been hard tearing Ellis away from Nick's dead body, even harder to look at it myself, but eventually we got his diseased brain to understand that he needed to come with us. But it took three hours and four of the guys traveling with us digging Nick a grave before Ellis seemed willing to go anywhere near us. But when he finally did, it took another two hours of fighting for us to try and convince the commander that we didn't need to restrain or cage him. They might not believe it, but me and Coach could see that he was still the same sweet loving man he had been before turning, and now that he trusted us he wouldn't attack unless someone attacked him first._

_After Ellis got over the initial pouting that came with having to leave something you didn't want to leave behind he perched himself ontop of the tank, riding along like some kind of happy dog with his tongue hangngi out, and his fingers curling and uncurling to grip at the metal to keep his balance as the thing bounced over things I don't even like to think about anymore._

_We laughed at this at first, thinking the way he would lean forward was just his way of thinking of something, and noticing the way everyone else watched him nervously, like they were just waiting on him to strike. But even that faded after that first time, when Ellis gave us all a heart attack. We'd been going along just fine, and when I looked up to check on the boy I saw him sitting straight up, eyes flaring with a yellow brightness I usually only saw in witches, his lip curling up. Growling a loud rumbling growl, he clawed at the air like he was going to attack something... or pointing.. one finger always extended longer then the others, and while everyone paniced I started to wonder if he wasn't trying to warn us._

_"Coach look" I said, pointing the movement out to the bigger man, who noticed almost right away, but when we followed the direction he was 'pointing' in we didn't see anything. Just the tense circle of soliders watching him with that nervousness again, thinking he was going to attack again, a few even raised their guns. Trying to watch him and walk at the same time, but there was no point in it, because the more we moved along the more Ellis seemed to srcunch up, going from growling to whining as he lowered himself down and tried to press as much of himself as he could against the tank._

_He had been warning us, we knew that now, but it was too late.. the earth shook from the force of a tank that had nothing to do with the one that was traveling with us, and the massive infected burst through a destoryed building. Scattering our guys and killing a few under the hug fists and chunks of concrete raining down on us from his explosive entry._

Day Twelve:

_After that little incident with the tank Ellis finally got accepted by all into the group, and we actually started to depend on Ellis to tell us where to go on our way back to the CEDA base. His sharp nose and sensative hearing usually told us when something we didn't want to fight was on it's way, and since we always had at least one person watching out for these sort of signs we knew right away and were able to avoid it most of the time when the tank was able to veer off course and not get stuck or the terrain proved to be too difficult for us moving on foot._

_We're starting to worry about the rest of Ellis though. We're guessing he got turned sometime after Nick, either by the ex conman himself or another infected. But either way time and disease has started to wear on him, and he coughed up a small puddle of blood onto the rough of the tank, staining his lips an his chin black, making him look not so gentle anymore and more like the hooded freaks he had taken after._

_Our worries subsided though when that was the only puddle he coughed up that day, and the commander said with the time we're making thanks to his lookout we'll be back in the camp before the day is over. Maybe the doctors can take a look at Ellis and see if there is anything that can be done to save him._

Day Twenty Four:

_Those first few days had been the most sickening and heartbreaking I'd ever experienced. We rolled into camp, and as soon as they spotted a hunter on top of the tank they swarmed us, thinking we hadn't spotted it sitting there and ready to kill it. Poor Ellis, recongizing the threat, and actually lept off the top of the tank sailing over the heads of several CEDA workers and right into the heart of the crowd, surprising us all by standing up to full height for what was probably the first time in a long while. His back still arching slightly and his eyes hidden behind the bill of his hat so that all you saw was stained teeth and a bloody mouth. His claws stretched out and ready to curl around the first set of ribs that came near him._

_But the commander got an order out quick, and they managed to get Ellis in the neck with a tranquilizer. Knocking him out with a bit of a struggle, then was quickly carried away by two workers wearing those face masks that would supposively keep the infection from spreading to them. They took him to a lab, where they actually locked him up in a human sized verisons of those metal cages you see dogs in when you go to the pound. Where he was prodded and poked, nothing more then a prisoner, yellowed eyes wide and hunched body pacing back and forth only stilling whenever the doctors came around. Wanting to test on Ellis and find out what made him so different from the others._

_It took us nearly three days for us to convince them to let him go, and when he finally did we let him have a nice long excercise break, running and leaping around certain parts of the camp where people were instructed not to do anything to make him feel threatened or it would be their own fault they got ripped apart. This seemed to please him, and for several hours that was all he did was leap around, twisting through the air in ways that would never be possible for something like me who didn't have a spine so twisted and managled as his._

_But then Ellis started coughing up blood again, and this time more came out then before, making a bigger puddle.. but didn't seem to stop him for long. As soon as the fit was over he was back to jumping around like the little mainac he was, until a second fit hit him only an hour later, and actually made him lose enough blood to sway and stumble a little. Twenty minutes later we had Ellis teethered to a bed in the ifirmary. Where he screeched and clawed at the sheets until he had nothing else in him. Then he just laid there glaring up at us like he hated us for doing this._

_I wouldn't blame him if he did._

Day Thirty Eight:

_I brought Ellis a pack of cards, hoping it would help distract him from the suffering, maybe it would even remind Nick of times he had with Nick before turning. He couldn't play with the cards himself, but I laid them out on the table I had set up by his bed, and went by his low growls to tell me just how to set them up. Seemed he remembered what poker was, but after the cards were laid out and the game set up he wouldn't let me touch them. Screeching and snapping at me any time I tried to, any time anyone tried too really, it was only when we left the little table alone that Ellis seem to calm and shut his eyes like he was trying to sleep again._

_I'd give anything in this world to have him open them one day and see the bright blue orbs they use to be instead of these sickened yellow things he uses now._

Day Fifty (present):

_Sometime during the night the card game had been played, and noone could figure out how it was done. The restraints had never been removed and noone had been in his room all night. Ellis didn't seem too keen on telling us either. Just stared at the table and totally ignored us._

_It wasn't until later on that we realized he wasn't staring, and he wasn't ignoring us._

_I... I just hope they had a good game before they left, and he doesn't get ribbed too bad for losing._


	8. Gone

"Do you think they'll be alright by themselves?."

"Of course they'll be alright, look at them, they've got the whole goddamn army on their side."

"I jus' feel kinda bad leaving 'em like that."

"When it's your time to go, it's your time to go."

"Took you long enough!"

"Not my fault you decided to play doggy for CEDA for so fucking long."

"I can't believe I lost!.."

"Don't change the subject.."

"But it's not fair!."

"That's what happens when you play against a card shark.."

Ellis huffed, but knew Nick was right, the two of them had been through enough and it was time to go. Taking one more look at Rochlle, who was sobbing next to his bed, and Coach laying a gentle hand on her shoulder trying to comfort her in the best way he could right now. Then Ellis turned to face his lover, heel of his boots squeaking on the floor, taking hold of the white suit jacket and giving it a quick tug to straighten it up so that Nick looked like his noraml self.

Then their eyes met, blue baby blue looking into angry emarld green, and lips locked in a kiss that they had both been waiting so long for.

"God I missed you Nick.."

"I missed you too El.."

Ellis took the older man's hand in his, taking a minute to look down and twirl one of the golden rings around the finger it rested on before looking back up at Nick and smiling.

"Let's go.."

Without another look back at their former companions, Nick and Ellis walked out of the imfirmary, disappearing in a small wiff of Nick's cigarette smoke the instant a ray of sunlight hit them.


End file.
